Some Secrets Are Best Shared
by KeepDreaming39
Summary: Secret serums, secret rooms *inside* secret rooms. How many more secrets can the Cahill family have? I can tell you that there is certainly at least one more. But when will Fiske share the secret he has kept for years? Will he tell the TRUTH before it's too late? First two chapters are now re-written and edited mercilessly (well, not quite mercilessly...). Rated T for safety.
1. The Ice-cream Truck Incident

**Super Important! Re-written chapter! Thanks to my friend Breanne being brutally honest, like I asked her to be, I have realised that she is right, and this was quite OOC. I am re-writing/posting both of the chapters before publishing the next.**

**Set after Day of Doom, but before the Unstoppable series. I refuse to believe Natalie is dead. I hope she will come back in Series 4 after faking her death, as Alistair did in The Sword Thief. *crossing fingers***

**Disclaimer: If I owned the 39 clues, there would be so much more Amian. And there would already be a movie out. Seeing as none of these have happened, I'm guessing you've realised I don't own the 39 clues (or anything else I happened to mention)**

**~Looking out a dirty old window. Down below, the cars and the city go rushing by. I sit here alone and I wonder why~**

**{Family Reunion: Day Two} **

Hamilton had beaten Dan at basketball again and Dan was extremely tired after his valiant struggle for victory. Suddenly, the world started to swirl and spin. He leaned against the old maple tree and slid down the trunk until he was sitting safely on the ground, where he couldn't fall and hurt himself. It hadn't been a good idea to play basketball for three hours straight after only getting _an hour and a half of sleep._

_He was starved. It had been three whole hours_ since he had last eaten, and to Dan, that seemed like an eternity. He wanted ice-cream so badly, but the ice-cream truck never came up this road (they were twenty minutes from the main town) and he couldn't trust himself to walk the distance to the door without falling over.

Music played in the distance, gradually coming to a crescendo. It most definitely wasn't Nellie's music; hers was so much louder and more energetic. The calming sound reminded him of an… ice-cream truck? Yes. It was there in the distance. It appeared to by driving towards him. Correction - hurtling towards him at top speed, and at the same time, the wheels made no contact with the ground.

_HELP! Pull the breaks. Someone stop it!_ he thought as its path straightened out so it included him. He closed his eyes and hoped that if he was hit, it would be a quick and painless death. And then he heard the screech of brakes. The acrid smell of burning rubber was strong, intoxicating, and most definitely headache-inducing. He thought he felt woozy earlier. It was so much worse now. It took him several moments to snap back to reality; there was free ice-cream sitting outside his house! Why there was no driver, he wasn't sure. But there was something amiss about how the truck had stopped when he wanted it to. He had a theory, but he needed to tell the others what happened first—not that they would believe him.

He ran into the mansion and grabbed the megaphone Fiske bought in case an emergency evacuation, or something like that, was needed. "The Vespers are back!" he bellowed into the megaphone. The others raced into the room, carrying whatever they had just been holding to use as a weapon.

Amy clutched a thick, heavy book so tightly, her knuckles were white. Nellie, who had just been cooking, brandished a spatula, still covered in some sauce or another from whatever dish she was cooking. Fiske and Natalie were the only ones with real, useful weapons. Natalie with her dart gun and Fiske with a small stun-gun.

Ian carried a polo stick. Madison had a soccer ball at the ready to be kicked; Reagan held one ballet slipper, and was hopping around attempting to remove the other. The toes on those shoes were hard, and when thrown by a Holt, they could do serious damage.

Hamilton came running in with the basketball we were playing with, and Ned, Ted and Sinead ran up from the basement with one of their new inventions and a vial filled with some sort of chemical.

Jonah was nowhere in sight.

For a moment he thought that the Vespers had actually come back and kidnapped Jonah. And then Dan heard the pounding of footsteps as the rapper ran down the stairs.

He came out in metallic gold pajamas with "Da Wiz" written all over them in white graffiti font. He was actually that self-obsessed that he wore his own clothing line's pajama range. He was hugging a pillow to his chest for comfort. His eyes were wide. That was understandable. No one wanted to be captured by the Vespers, and others—not again.

"Wh-where are they?" Jonah asked timidly, stuttering slightly. Phoenix had told him about what it was like in the cell. He didn't want it to be him stuck in there. He didn't want anyone stuck in there.

"Relax! I just needed a way to get you down here quickly. The Vespers are long gone. But you will never believe the awesome things that just happened to me!"

"Let me guess," Natalie began, "you finally completed your ninja video game? Yes? Great, now let's all go back to what we were doing."

Murmurs of "yeah" were given from everyone as they turned to walk out.

"Wait! That's not what I wanted to tell you! This might be important!" Dan shouted as they made their way out the door.

They came back in, bored and wanting to go back to their activities. Once they all sat down, Dan started to retell what is now known as the Ice-cream Truck Incident.

"So, I was tired, sweaty, and hungry, so I wished for an ice-cream truck to come and I stared at the horizon and it suddenly came flying towards me! I thought it was going to crash into me so I willed it to stop, and it did. It was just hovering. Then I wanted it to land in front of me, and it did. And, and-"

"Whoa. Slow down, Dan-o. I think we need to start at the start," Hamilton interrupted, before Dan could confuse the others any more than they already were. He was currently claiming to have superpowers. Yesterday it was ninja abilities. Amy had her fingers crossed that her brother was over ninjas for good.

"Yes. I must agree with this peasant, Daniel. It is impossible that you have telekinesis. It must just have been an ordinary ice-cream truck. You did say you were tired and dizzy. You probably hallucinated," Natalie argued, disgusted by the fact she had just agreed with someone of such a low class as Hamilton. "I can't believe our family. Second day of our reunion and already you have to confuse us with your wild fantasies."

"Teleki-what? What on earth does that mean?" Dan quizzed.

"It means the power to move things with your mind, dweeb. Now let's start this again. How about, half an hour before we called everyone over for the reunion and onward? We need evidence to back this theory up," Amy said wearily, in an attempt to stop the argument before it had even begun. No one objected, so Amy started them off.

_**{Flashback}**_

"Sinead? Are you all right?" Amy asked her best friend. Sinead's parents were who-knows-where and her brothers were in the hospital for their surgeries. The explosion at the Franklin Institute had left Ted blind, Ned with headaches if he attempted to concentrate on anything, and Sinead with plenty of scars. Amy had let her stay with them for the time being.

"Huh? Oh! Hi, Ames. Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for five whole minutes! Is something bothering you?" Amy asked, worried for her friend. She had never been so distracted before.

"No, nothing," Sinead replied, a little too quickly for Amy's liking.

"Fine, if you won't tell me… Truth or dare?" she asked.

"I'm guessing if I say truth, you'll ask me what's wrong?" Sinead inquired.

"No, of _course_ not!" Amy replied, clearly not meaning what she said.

"I pick dare, then," a triumphantly smirking Sinead said.

"I dare you to tell me what the problem is, _truthfully_," Amy replied, now smirking instead of Sinead.

"Fine, you win. Well, I'm worried about Ned and Ted, and also… Well, I just can't stop thinking about someone. I guess you could say that I'm having a few boy troubles…" Amy was intrigued by this point.

"Did I just hear the smartest person I know say she's having boy troubles? Like, with your brothers or… _boy _troubles?" Amy queried, slightly blushing as she said those last words.

"The last one, but not exactly. You see, Hamilton has been really nice to me because he wants to make up for the Franklin Institute. My heart is saying to forgive him, but my mind keeps reminding me of the pain it caused my brothers."

"Just forgive him already! Trust your heart, not your head."

"No, I can't! In the movies, the girl forgives the guy only for him to do something worse and break her heart! And besides, the next reunion is ages away."

"One week away, actually," Amy corrected. "Wait, since when did you watch chick flicks, Sinead?"

Sinead was too deep in thought already to notice the question. She stared out the window thinking. _One week. Only one week. How will I do this?_

"Sinead!" Amy yelled to snap her friend out of her daze. Amy set down the phone. By the looks of it, she had just finished a phone call. "Ned and Ted are ready to come out of the hospital! We're going to send a car to pick them up and they'll be here tomorrow!" she squealed in excitement.

"Really?! Get Nellie to cook a feast and send private jets to get the other Clue hunters here early. We need to celebrate!"

"Great idea! I'll send out the jets and call the others to make sure they're ready. You tell Nellie, and start thinking up what foods to make."

The two girls ran off in separate directions, still bubbly and excited, completely forgetting their earlier conversation.

_**{Present Day}**_

_She won't forgive me… ever. Will she? _Hamilton thought to himself. _How can she? I hurt her and her brothers permanently. _

"So that explains the party as soon-" Ned began

"As we walked through the door" Ted finished.

"Wait. Did you two just finish each other's sentence? Weird!" Dan exclaimed. The others shared puzzled looks. Ned and Ted _had_ just finished each other's sentence.

"It seems we did."

"Hey, Ted. We should do that more often! I like seeing the faces everyone gives us when we do. Did you see Sinead? Her face-" Ned didn't get to finish, as he burst into a fit of laughter.

"What was wrong with my face, Ned?" Sinead asked. She picked up a cushion from next to her and threw it at her brother, a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth.

"Pillow fight!" Hamilton yelled.

"NO! I just finished cleaning up after the party!" Nellie snapped. Everyone dropped the assorted cushions and sat back down.

"Who's going next?" Fiske asked.

"Me! Me! Me!" Dan exclaimed.

Ian and Natalie groaned and sat there, silently cursing Dan in their heads.

_**{Flashback}**_

The phone rang in the distance and Amy and Sinead started squealing. Dan's first thought was that they were in trouble, but then he heard them laughing and decided to go back to his video game. He had just unpaused the game again when his 'dork of a sister' ran into the room, panting heavily.

"Dan, family reunion tomorrow, Ned and Ted are coming back from the hospital. I need you to clean up. Eww! Is that pizza sticking to the ceiling? Never mind, we'll find a way to get it off and clean the stain. Now get off your butt and clean!" She turned around and tripped over something on the floor.

"Dan! Why are your socks in the doorway? I just tripped over them. You're so lucky it wasn't Fiske who tripped!"

"So that's where I put those," he casually replied. Amy just rolled her eyes.

She picked herself up and walked out the door. Dan waited until he could not hear her footsteps anymore and continued with his game. He noticed a shadow in the corner of his eye. It appeared to be watching him.

He paused the game again and looked over. Nothing. But when he turned back to the T.V., the screen was black. He heard laughing behind him and cautiously turned around, ready to strike if needed. Amy stood by the door holding the game console and the T.V. remote.

"Clean up, and maybe you will get these back, dweeb," she chided, waltzing out of game room once again.

So if Dan ever wanted to see his console again, he had to clean. His best bet was that she'd open all the drawers and cupboards to make sure he hadn't just stuffed everything in there.

He picked up the pile of dirty clothes that had somehow accumulated in the game room. The pile was heavy, and that was the problem with living in Grace's mansion: The place was _big_. They had to walk past fifteen rooms and down three corridors before getting to the laundry. The prices people pay.

Dan had never actually been in the laundry room. Doing it was Amy, Nellie and Sinead's chore. He had never understood the point of washing clothes that would just get dirty again. It was a waste of time.

The room was so clean. The benches, walls, floor, dryer and washing machine; all spotless. Probably because he had never been here before to mess it up.

He opened the box thing that he hoped was the washing machine and dumped in the dirty clothes. _I'll let Nellie deal with this. I have to work on the pizza on the ceiling,_he thought turning to walk out the door.

_Oh, who cares about the game room? It's not as if anyone will go there except, maybe, Hammer. Where can I hide from Amy so that she will never know where I am? Grace's secret library! She'll never look there for me!_ He took off down the corridor to the library, acting like a ninja the whole way.

_**{Present day}**_

Dan felt Amy's glare burning a hole in his head before he even turned to look at her. He gave her a winning smile.

"Dan," she said, "I *told you* to clean up the game room! You seriously never did that?"

"I felt the pizza was a nice addition to the ceiling, and I figured that if I wasn't going to do that, maybe I should just skip it all."

Amy looked ready to blow.

"Hamilton," Sinead piped up, hoping to stop the fight that was surely gearing to start, "maybe you should go next."

"Good idea," the Holt answered quickly. "So I was in my bedroom..."

_**{Flashback}**_

Hamilton was staring out the window again. He had been doing this a lot lately.

"Hamilton! Dad wants you down here!" his sister, Madison, yelled from downstairs. He heard the pounding of footsteps as his other sister, Reagan, ran up the stairs.

"Hamilton?! Hammer...? Something must be wrong. You always answer to 'Hammer,'" Reagan said. He took no notice. "I FOUND A NEW CLUE!" she yelled in his ear, while waving her hand in front of his eyes, in an attempt to break him out of the trance. That worked. Even after the Hunt finished, all the Cahills jumped to action upon hearing the words "found" and "Clue."

"What did you say?" Hamilton asked, coming back to reality.

"I knew that would work! Dad wants you downstairs. He said something about being the first to try one of his 'delicious' protein drinks." She made air quotes while saying "delicious." "Why were you staring out the window?" she probed.

"I was just thinking about someone- I mean… suitcases… yeah, suitcases… I don't know what to pack for the reunion?" The way he answered made it sound like a question.

"Sure… Well, Dad wants you." Reagan ran out the door, he followed behind, begrudgingly, not overly impressed with the fact that he was the test subject for the drink.

Hamilton could not believe himself. Was he really about to say he was thinking about Sinead... again? Why was he thinking about her?

Just then, the phone rang. He downed the drink quickly and immediately ran to the bathroom to vomit. He quietly—at least, as quietly as possible for a Holt - slunk back to his room to get away from his loud, boisterous family. He seemed to be staring out the window, drowning in his thoughts a lot lately. Two minutes later, both his sisters barged into the room, not bothering to knock, of course.

"Hamilton, you need to pack!" Reagan yelled.

"Ned and Ted are out of the hospital. Amy and Sinead planned a surprise party so the reunion was moved forward. They're sending a private jet. After being the ones who caused their injuries, I think it's important to celebrate their recovery!" Madison called, already running back to her room, which she shared with Reagan.

Hamilton sighed at those words. _We caused their injuries; the bomb idea wasn't mine, but I was the one who made it and planted it. I can't help but regret it. It's my own fault that the Starlings were injured. I can't blame anyone else,_ he thought.

_**{Present Day}**_

"Okay. Nothing interesting going on at the Holt crib," Jonah chimed in.

"Why did you say Sinead's name there, Hammer?" Dan asked innocently.

"I didn't. You must have misheard me. I was saying… sandwiches… yeah, sandwiches."

Hamilton was sure he saw Sinead frown slightly when he said that. He figured it was just wishful thinking.

"Right, that's the Holts down. Who's next?" Amy inquired.

"Natalie and I will go next, then," Ian spoke up, and began recalling the events from back in London.

**A/N I intended this to be a one-shot… yeah, so much for that. Also, thanks to Breanne for reminding me that the Starlings are actually eighteen in the second series.**

**Next Chapter: Unproven Theories and Untold Secrets. **

**Random questions:**

**1 Which pairing for Amy do you support most? ****_(_****My answer: ****_Amian!)_**

**2 What games should they play at the reunion (truth or dare, etc.)**

**3 Zebras: white with black stripes or black with white stripes?**

**See the button that says 'review'? Mind pressing it? Please? **

**Constructive criticism welcomed, in fact, completely encouraged. Be brutally honest!**


	2. Unproven Theories and Untold Secrets

***Re-written**

**This is probably (still) a terrible chapter. I didn't have much inspiration and I have yet to board the legendary Train of Thought, so if this goes nowhere, blame the guy who told me which platform the train departs from. (How am I supposed to find platform 9 ¾?!)**

**Disclaimer: The authors own the 39 Clues. I am not one of the authors. I am a fan. This is fan fiction. Therefore I do not own the 39 Clues (or any other products mentioned, no matter how much I want to…. I do however, own Chad, Chestnut, Xavier and the nurse)**

_**Previously:**_

Hamilton was sure he saw Sinead frown slightly when he said that. He figured it was just wishful thinking.

_I swear he said my name. Probably just wishful thinking—wait! Why would I wish the dolt had said my name?!…_ Sinead thought.

"Right, that's the Holts down. Who's next?" Amy inquired.

"Natalie and I will go next, then," Ian spoke up, and began recalling the events from back in London.

_**{*Flashback*}**_

"Chad! I'm open!" Ian yelled across the polo field. Thirty seconds of the game remained and he was perfectly positioned to take a shot. The score was currently tied at 5-5 but he strongly believed he could take the winning shot.

He hit the ball and watched as it sailed through the posts to score the last goal. The team and the spectators cheered as he dismounted Chestnut, his favourite mare.

"Ian, we must go shopping. Now!" Natalie demanded, as she made her way over to her brother.

"Why, Natalie? We went just yesterday."

"I just found out that Chanel has released a new perfume!"

_Another?_ Ian thought, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. We can go shopping." He gave in easily. He was tired and knew that if he said "no," Natalie would whine all day and he would not get any rest.

Ian handed the horse's reins to the stable-hand, Xavier. He gave Ian a sympathetic look as Natalie started complaining about how the perfume would be sold out if they were any slower.

Suddenly, Natalie began running into the limo, dragging Ian behind her. _How does she run in those heels? I struggle to run in my own shoes, and they have flat soles!_ He thought as he fell into the seat next to Natalie. The radio turned on to some current Top Forty station. _They call this racket music? _He thought to himself just as the song ended.

The next song to play, Ian knew. It was "Jet Lag" by Simple Plan. The song always reminded him of Amy and how she was on the other side of the world to him. The five hour time distance was terrible; they couldn't Skype or call each other because of it. Not that Ian minded. Amy only thought of him as a friend, probably less than a friend.

Ian was just getting into the song when-

"Bickerduff! I demand you change the station. Put on something classical. Or One Direction!"

"As you wish, Miss Kabra," came Bickerduff's exasperated reply

Just then, Ian's phone rang to the chorus of "Just the Girl" by The Click Five. He had set that song as Amy's ringtone. Natalie gave him a perplexed look as he answered the phone.

"Yes, Love? You want something?" I said

"O-one, s-stop calling me l-love" came Amy's adorable stutter. "Two, N-ned and Ted a-are out of th-the h-hospital. The r-reunion has been moved f-forward a w-week."

"Thank you for telling me. Are you sending over a Madrigal plane?"

"Y-yes. It sh-should be ready t-to pick y-you up in a-an h-hour. W-we're using the l-latest super s-speed m-model."

"Sure thing, love. See you later."

I hung up the phone and turned to Natalie. She was not going to be too pleased with this.

"Natalie, we can't go shopping anymore. Reunion moved forward. That reminds me - Bickerduff! Change of plans. Take us to our private airport."

"Ian! That's not fair!" Natalie whined.

"You can get the perfume in America."

"Fine." Natalie crossed her arms and slouched, before remembering that Kabras never slouch, and sitting up straight again.

_**{Present Day}**_

"If I wasn't your sister, and a Lucian, I would have believed that lie, Ian. I never asked to go shopping that day, and it was a Thursday. You play polo on Saturdays." A mischievous look came across her. Her eyes sparkled the way they did only when she had great blackmail.

"What was he really doing then?" probed Madison.

"Yeah. You need to tell us," Reagan said to support her sister.

"You want to know? Okay. Well…" Ian's face paled at this point.

"He was in his room, going through his wardrobe looking for something 'casual,' as he called it, muttering something about a 'Rosenbloom idiot' and how he's 'worse than the Tolliver fellow.' He then started seething about Isabel, and how she 'ruined his chance,' or something like that." Ian now looked like he was going to be sick.

"Then he was standing in front of the mirror practising what he was going to say to Amy," she continued. "And when his phone rang, and he heard Amy's ringtone, he almost dropped the phone! He was jumping around the room trying to keep it off the ground and catch it!" Everyone erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Did not!" Ian said defensively.

"I might have exaggerated that last part slightly, but, you were grinning like an idiot until the plane arrived - an hour later. I'm glad we have the new super speed model in use, or I would've had to put up with your stupid grin for hours."

The others started giggling again and Amy blushed a deep shade of crimson and bit her lip nervously. Dan was going to tease her to no end about this.

"Well, I spent the day at my performance with my fans. I don't think I need to tell you about that so, Ned and Ted. Anything happen at the hospital?" Jonah asked, trying to avoid a sibling fight. Lucians were so unpredictable; he wouldn't have been surprised if they both had machine guns, grenades and poisons with them at all times.

"Hmm. Let's see…" Ted started.

_**{*Flashback*}**_

The light was unbearable. All Ted could see for two years was black. He had hated it at first, then learned to love it, I was so used to it, and now, the darkness his eyes were so used to was gone. Replaced by light, colors and real images that he hadn't just made up himself.

He opened his eyes wider. The surroundings were blurry, probably because his eyes were still weary, but he could still make out a familiar face. He hadn't changed much since Ted last saw him. His twin brother. His other half. Ned.

"Ted!" he exclaimed, clearly overjoyed at the fact that his brother was awake and his eyes were open. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three and your thumb," Ted replied, squinting slightly as he tried focusing his eyes.

"Correct! I knew it would work! The surgery was a success!" he hollered, almost as loud as a Holt. Ted could have sworn he heard the man seven rooms down telling him to shut up.

"Well, this spoils my surprise for you," said the nurse, walking into the room. "Try not to make your brother strain his eyes too much, they haven't been used for so long. I guess everything is blurry. Am I right, Ted?"

"Yeah. I can't see all that well, but I can make out the objects close to me. I will most likely be near-sighted for a while, so I suppose I have to wear glasses or contacts now?" he asked.

"One step ahead of me again I see. And yes, you will," the nurse stated, slightly annoyed that the boys kept jumping the gun, and she couldn't tell them herself.

"What you don't know, Mr. Starling," she began, breaking his train of thought, "is that tomorrow you get to go home. We just need to run a few tests, and get you a pair of prescription contacts, and you should be fine."

Ted supressed his grin; he didn't want to light up like the Fourth of July in front of a stranger. Everything would be back to normal. He could draw blueprints, play games, watch videos, and be normal for his last years as a teenager! Nothing was holding him back anymore.

_**{*Flashback*}**_

Ned Starling had woken up to bright lights and the smell of disinfectant. The hospital. He rubbed his temples to soothe the headache he experienced every morning. Then he realized… he didn't _have_ a headache. The surgery worked!

He hopped out of bed and started jumping around the room yelling things like "Woo hoo!", "No more headaches!" and "I'm free!" The person on the hospital bed on the other side of the room stirred, and he immediately stopped yelling, already feeling guilty for waking them when they needed rest.

Then he saw the person. It was his twin brother. His other half. Ted. Ned sat down in the chair next to his bed, and waited patiently for him to wake up. After another half hour he woke up and Ned resumed jumping for joy.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" he quizzed his twin.

"Three and your thumb," Ted replied, squinting slightly. Seems he still had some problems with his sight.

"Correct! I knew it would work! The surgery was a success!" _Mostly_, he thought to himself. Ted's vision would never be the same.

The nurse walked in when she heard their conversation. After telling the two boys they could leave the next day, she left to take care of another patient.

"Ted?" Ned asked cautiously. "What was it like, being blind?"

"It was strange at first. I would open my eyes every morning, thinking I would see the light filtering into the room. When all I saw was darkness, I would open my eyes wide, thinking they were just closed. Then I would remember the explosion." Ted was beginning to sniffle now.

_I should never have asked._

"It's okay, Ted. You can stop now."

"No. You wanted to know, and so I'll tell you. It was scary in a way. The darkness. Not knowing my surroundings. Then my others senses became more alert to small things. I could imagine my surrounding vividly. It was almost like I could see them. Ned? What were your headaches like? And don't you dare tell me it was like pain in your head."

Ned honestly wasn't too sure how to respond. "Well… sometimes they were dull but throbbing. Like someone was repeatedly hitting my head with a book. Not a heavy one and not very forceful hits.

"Other times, it felt like someone was standing next to me, with a hammer. Striking me at full force, trying to crack open my skull, but always hitting a different spot. Several times I felt like letting out some of my blood, to relieve the pressure. I never did. Instead I took my medication and hoped it would all end soon."

"Oh, Ned. I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault. And besides, you were injured, too."

_**{Present Day}**_

"He's right, Ted. It wasn't your fault. It was mine…" Hamilton blinked back the tears starting to form, because Holts never cry. "And I know you could never forgive me for it, but I am still truly sorry." He sniffed and blinked back more tears.

"We- we forgive you, Hamilton. We all did stupid things during the Clue hunt - especially me. I didn't believe Amy and Dan when they warned us. _I'm_ to blame," said a timid voice. Sinead.

She cautiously walked towards Hamilton and gave him a hug, to comfort him. To remind him that he was forgiven and that it was in the past.

Fiske could tell the kids were getting suspicious. They were starting to believe Dan but he didn't have enough proof yet. He needed to tell them before they found out themselves, or it could end in disaster. If they tried using their powers - assuming the others had them, as well as Dan - Fiske did not want to stick around to see the results.

But how could Dan have powers? The formula was well hidden, with plenty of security. No one else knew of its existence… right? But they were Cahills: wild and unpredictable. Fiske would have to monitor them for a while. They couldn't suspect anything. They weren't ready yet.

**A/N: Thankyou to my friend from school, Brianna, for reviewing, and the people who favourited and followed my story. It means so much to me.**

**Random Questions:**

**1: Favourite book/book series (You expect me to choose?)**

**2: Book you most want to be turned into a movie (39 Clues! And any other books I LOVE that haven't been made into movies)**

**3: One of the weirdest/randomest things you and/or your friends/enemies have ever done (Most of the things my friends and I talk about have to do with books, or the movies of the books, or the soundtrack for the movie. Check out my profile for more evidence of my randomness...)**

**Until the next chapter,  
Nikki**


	3. Parties and Revelations

**Finally I present to you the long awaited update!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I did- but I don't.**

"How was any of that helpful? Ham was staring out the window; Sinead and Amy were playing Truth or Dare; Dan was being, well, Dan; Ian was finding ways to impress Amy" – Amy blushed an interesting shade of fuchsia while Ian's face blanched – "Natalie, surprisingly enough, wasn't whining and complaining; and the Starling twins were in the hospital. How do you get super powers from any of that?" Nellie inquired.

"What about yesterday? Maybe something happened then. We can go through yesterday's events, too," Amy interjected.

"Maybe, but first, how about lunch? I don't know about you, but I'm starved! I would love a burger! Maybe a Coke, some fries and onion rings, too? And don't forget the ice-cream!" Dan exclaimed.

"What is it with you Americans and greasy fast-food?" Natalie inquired, repulsed by Dan's choice. Just as she finished her sentence, the meal came flying in through the open window, landing gracefully on the coffee table. Everyone's jaws slacked as they stared in awe at the food that just flew in.

"Dan? What were you saying before – about the ice-cream truck?" Ian asked.

"Well, I wanted ice-cream, so I wished for an ice-cream truck, and it came… Hey! I do have powers! What did you say it was called? Telekinesis? Oh, who cares?" Dan shoved the magazines off the coffee table, then carefully picked up his food and placed it gently on the chair. He leapt onto the now bare table and started a victory dance. "I told you so! I told you so!" he chanted.

As he began chanting, Amy noticed a puddle left by the Coke. She was about to warn him when…

"Argh!" Dan screeched as he slipped on the puddle and fell backwards off the table. "Oww," he groaned, clutching his ankle. "I think I twisted it."

"How can you be a ninja if you can't even stand on a table?" Ian sneered.

"Simple," Natalie continued; "he won't be a ninja."

"Hey! I will so!"

"Quit it, will you?" Sinead exclaimed.

"What _did_ you do yesterday?" Fiske asked tentatively. "I never did find out."

Memories of the previous day flooded into the younger Cahills' minds. They were finding it very hard to believe Fiske hadn't found out yet (the scorch marks in the guest house kitchen were extremely obvious). Ned and Ted prayed fervently that Fiske had not seen that yet, and that the others would forget to mention it because they would probably be blamed for not warning the others early enough.

They had just jinxed themselves.

"Well, umm, you see, Uncle, we… Amy will explain it!" Dan stammered.

"M-me?"

"It's okay, kiddo. I'll do it. But, Fiske, are you sure you want the whole story?" Nellie said, not wanting to get into trouble for allowing the chaos that was yesterday.

"Yes, the whole story. What sort of question is that?"

"If you insist… How about lunch first?"

The Cahills all got up and walked to the kitchen as quickly as possible without looking nervous and guilty. Fiske watched on wordlessly as they didn't yell, push, shove or do anything Cahill-like. It was as if they were trying to be nice now to get into less trouble later.

After lunch, which was expertly made by Nellie, they crowded into the living room again.

"Nellie, if you would kindly begin," Fiske said.

"That morning, I woke up to…"

* * *

**{Flashback}**

"Aaaaaaaahhh!" screamed Dan as he ran into Nellie's room. "Nellie! I just had the worst nightmare! The Cobras were being nice and Isabel gave me a teddy bear!"

"It was just a dream, kiddo," she comforted. "They would never act like that in reality. What time is it?"

"9:15 a.m.," Dan said as he looked over at the digital clock sitting on the bedside table.

_Clock. Should have thought of that one_, she thought to herself as she sleepily sat up. "Wait, Dan! Is Amy awake? The reunion is today! Everyone's going to start arriving at three!"

The girls had planned a party for Ned and Ted, who would be there at four p.m., and they needed to start preparing before the usual Cahill madness began.

"Nellie?! Where are you? You promised you would help us prepare!" Yes, Amy was awake.

"Coming, kiddo!" Nellie called back as she got off the bed. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

_Ding dong!_ The first of the relatives rolled up at exactly three p.m. "I'll get it!" yelled Dan as he lunged for the door and unlocked it. "Oh. It's you," he snarled at the guests.

"Nice to see you, too, Danny boy. Now, the pink and purple suitcases go in Natalie's room and the rest in mine. Do you understand? Well, don't just stand there! Let us in and take our luggage already," Ian commanded.

"Really? Danny boy? I guess it could be worse…"

"How could it be worse, exactly?"

"You could call me something like, I don't know… Daniel. At least you're calling me by a nickname."

"Oh. Well in that case, _Daniel_, are you going to let us in? And remember, pink and purple bags in _Natalie's room_. Not like last time when you put them in the pantry."

"It's Dan, Cobra."

"It's Kabra, Daniel."

"Why did I have to say that?" Dan muttered to himself.

"Because you're an idiotic git?" Natalie provided breezing past Dan into the house, not bothering to be invited in like her brother. She didn't need an invitation.

"Who is it, Dan?" Amy asked as she approached the door. The faint scent of clove hung in the air and immediately she wished she had stayed with Sinead instead of going to the door.

"Why, hello, love." Dan felt sick already. Who wouldn't? Amy and Ian were standing in the doorway, staring into each other's eyes.

"Er, c-come in," Amy stammered, stepping to the side. There were streamers littering the floor, and balloons filled the ceiling.

"What's the occasion?" Natalie queried as she stared at the decorations.

"We thought we would throw a party for Ned and Ted."

Just as they were about to close the door again, a loud voice bellowed from the bottom of the driveway. "Hey, little buddy!" Hamilton. And where there was one Holt, there was always more.

"I won, and don't even try to deny it, Rea!" Madison yelled at her sister as they reached the door. They had just raced from the bottom of the driveway to the door.

"Did not!" Reagan countered

"Did to!"

"Just call it a tie and shut up!" Ian snapped at the two girls. "Your incessant bickering is giving me an awful headache!"

"Headache? Really? Well, in that case…" Reagan turned to face her sister, "Did not!"

Ian let out a frustrated groan as he fell onto the sofa. The only ones left to arrive now were Jonah and – obviously – Ned and Ted.

"So… wanna play a game?" Dan asked. "We have Monopoly…"

"I'm really not in the mood now, Daniel. Amy, love, do you have any aspirin?" he asked while massaging his forehead. The Holt girls' arguing on the front porch could be heard from the living room — with five walls between them and the others.

"Jonah's here!" either Madison or Reagan shouted.

The metallic gold limo pulled up at the door, and out stepped Jonah – adorned festively in his "bling." He was like a magpie: obsessed with shiny things.

"Wassup, my homies!" he exclaimed.

"For someone as well-read as you, you certainly sound like an idiot," Natalie stated, waltzing out the front door.

"Yes, Jonah. Lay off the slang for the reunion. Please," Ian added, almost as an afterthought, following behind.

Jonah had to consider it for a long moment, but eventually the calmly murderous look in Ian's eyes won him over. "Fine. I promise not to use slang during the reunion. Happy now?"

"Very."

Amy checked her watch out of habit. She was so used to checking it every several minutes to make sure that Gideon's ring hadn't been stolen, that now she just did it all the time. _Oh no! We have to finish preparing_, she thought as she saw the time. It was 3:40 already; there was still so much to set up. And the guests were about to arrive.

Amy and Sinead had also invited Ned and Ted's friends and the pre-teens/teens from every branch. The mansion was most likely going to be crowded. No, crowded wasn't a strong enough word. Bursting, overflowing, and packed like sardines would be much more fitting terms.

And where there were crowds, there was Amy hiding in the library. Although she had promised Sinead that she wouldn't do that this time. Although she had never promised she wouldn't hide elsewhere.

"We have five minutes until the guests start arriving, Sinead! Have we set up the tables and food yet?"

"Food? Did someone say food?" Hamilton and Dan started grinning at each other deviously. "Hey, Amy, can we-"

"After we finish setting up and everyone arrives."

The boys' grins turned into scowls as they trudged up the stairs to the front door. "So are we going to finish or not?" Dan questioned as he turned back around to look at his sister. They started another one of their silent conversations

_You just want food._

_No I don't. I want to be a good brother and help out._

Amy rolled her eyes and muttered to herself, "Dweeb." She, too, began walking back to the mansion.

* * *

"Hello?" Ned called into the dark, "empty" room.

"Surprise!" everyone exclaimed as the lights turned on, revealing all the effort put into the making of the party. Long tables covered in food bordered the room, a dance floor was set up in the middle and there were decorations everywhere.

"Ned! Ted!" Sinead came running towards them, teary-eyed, and engulfed them in a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Sinead, um, we have an important question," Ned began.

"Was that food on the tables cooked by Nellie?" Ted asked.

Sinead nodded her head. "Why do you ask?"

"We've been in an assortment of hospitals for the past few months. It's been ages since we ate food that has any flavour. The hospital food is tasteless!" The two boys ran towards the food wearing grins remarkably like Dan's and Hamilton's earlier.

"Yo! Ned! Ted! How's it goin', homies?" Jonah said to the brothers when they met at the tables.

Ian suddenly appeared behind Jonah. "You said you would lay off the slang for the reunion!"

Frightened, Jonah spun around, almost knocking Ian over.

"I just did that so you would stop pestering me. Besides, I have to keep it up for my fans, yo."

"Wow! You actually know the word 'pestering'! Last time I checked, that wasn't slang. If you know actual words, you should _use _actual words. You promised!"

"So now you're telling me to keep that promise? You are such a hypocrite! You never keep _your_ promises! You cold-hearted, ruthless, uncaring Lucian!"

"Oh, that does it! You've gone too far this time!" Ned and Ted slowly backed away from them as they started arguing.

* * *

Sinead took one last look at the tablecloth. _I swear I just saw a pair of shoes under there. _She walked towards it and lifted it up, revealing… Amy.

"Ahh! Oh, it's just you, Sinead."

"Care to share?"

"You made me promise not to go to the library. So instead, I went to my room and picked up a book. Then I went and sat under the kitchen table to escape the party. I thought no one would find me here."

"Why did you need to escape the party? I thought you were over your fear of crowds."

"I know the other Clue hunters, so I'm not as nervous. But here, well, I don't know any of your brothers' friends or the rest of the family. We just called the branch leaders and told them to invite anyone under the age of twenty."

"It's 8:30 already. The party's over in half an hour. Come with me, I'll introduce you to some of the others."

"Do I h-have to?"

"No. Of course you don't have to," Sinead replied sarcastically. She grabbed Amy's wrist and pulled her to her feet. "Go! Out of the kitchen."

_I really need a more supportive and understanding best friend_, Amy thought as she was shoved out of the quiet kitchen and toward the noise of the party.

Sinead opened the door and Amy saw the crowd. Well, what was left of it. The hundreds of people had dwindled down to no more than 150. _Probably left so they wouldn't miss their flights_, she thought to herself.

Some of the Janus were on the dance floor, fangirls surrounded Jonah and Ian was glaring over at him every time he used his slang. Just the way Sinead had left it. Amy had finally gained enough courage to walk through the door when about 30 more of the guests left.

Ian caught sight of her copper hair reflecting the light as she walked through the door. Something about the colour-changing disco lights made her look so different, even though she looked exactly the same as she did before the party.

"Where were you, love?" Ian asked her, a hint of concern buried deep in the sentence.

"She was reading under the kitchen table."

"You said I couldn't go to the library, Sinead. Oh, and Ian, stop calling me love."

"So you were the pair of shoes that infernal feline was sitting next to? And I'm sorry, _love_, but I didn't hear that last part you said. The music has been turned up awfully loud."

Amy checked her watch. 9:00 p.m. As if on cue, the rest of the visitors left, leaving the eleven Clue hunters – and Nellie – to clean up.

The rest of the boys started walking over.

"Pizza!"

"No, hamburgers!"

"Grilled cheese!"

"I don't care what we eat. I just know that I'm hungry."

Amy and Sinead wore matching quizzical expressions. "You just ate at least half of the party food between you guys and now you want more?"

"Duh," they replied in unison.

Only then did Amy notice the absences. "Where are Nellie, Natalie, Madison and Reagan?"

"Madison and Reagan went outside to play soccer at around 8:30, and Natalie is most likely changing outfits and fixing her makeup - _again_. I'm not too sure where Nellie is, though," Dan answered.

* * *

**{Present day}**

"So that's where Amy was: under the table," the Holts stated, only just working it out. Sure, they were smarter than they looked, but they were still usually the last to understand.

"Who wants to continue? I'm still in sleep-mode. We were up really late last night."

"I'll go, yo."

Ian glared at Jonah.

* * *

**{Flashback}**

"OH-OH-WOAH! OOOH!" Nellie was making herself much easier to find by singing.

They, extremely reluctantly, followed the noise back to the guest room kitchen, where Nellie had her iPod plugged into a giant amplifier. And, much to everyone's annoyance, she also had a microphone. A _working_ microphone.

"This is where it sounds loudest. Unfortunately…" Jonah mumbled the last word so no one would hear, but they were all thinking it anyway – Nellie sounded like a cat being run over by a truck.

They were just about to open the door when Nellie burst into the chorus of some unrecognizable song.

"Make it stop! Her terrible singing could be contagious. I'd hate to disappoint my fans!"

"I don't care about your fans, Wizard. I care more about the fact that I could go deaf!"

The door opened and Nellie stood in the doorway. "What could make you go deaf?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…"

"Hey, Nellie. Can we have some food?" For once Dan actually did something to help Ian. That, or he was just hungry.

"You'll have to make it yourself, kiddo. I'm so tired."

She pushed past them and walked back to the main house.

Natalie walked down the staircase – in a completely different outfit – to the kitchen to join the others as Madison and Reagan came in from the front door, streaked with mud and with blades of grass tangled through their hair.

**15 minutes later**

"Ian! You're such an idiot! You got butter on my favourite Prada dress! The only dry cleaner licensed to use the special chemicals to clean it is in London!" Natalie whined.

"Ian the idiot," Dan repeated, walking in from the living room, where he was watching T.V. "I like that name. It rolls off the tongue. **Ian the idiot.** _Ian the idiot_. Ian the idiot. Ian the-"

"I get it, Danny boy."

"It's Dan, Cobra."

"It's Kabra, Daniel."

"For the last time, Cobra, it's – Can you smell that? Like… burnt toast."

The Cahills slowly turned to look at the toaster, which had billows of smoke coming out of it.

"Who was making the toast? Because, _news flash_, you're not meant to set it on five! Unless you want to eat ashes," Sinead exclaimed, glaring accusingly at the Holts.

"Mrrp," Saladin meowed from his place next to the toaster, where he was turning the dial.

"You sent the toast up in smoke? Bad cat," Amy scolded.

Flames suddenly burst from the toaster. They danced across the surface and sent the smoke up in twirling wisps. Saladin leapt away, narrowly avoiding setting his tail on fire.

The fire tauntingly flicked at the edge of the curtains – which hung against the window the toaster was placed under – as if threatening to set the place alight if anyone made a move. Amy and Dan were paralysed, their eyes transfixed on the red embers. They had experienced too many close encounters with fire.

Memories clouded their thoughts._ The dew covered grass, their mother telling them to stay there. The sirens blasting in the distance; taking too long to reach their destination. Water: the firemen used water…_

Amy was the first to come back to reality. Those weren't the sirens. That was the smoke alarm. "Water! Put it out with water!"

Madison grabbed the glass next to her and threw the contents at the melting toaster.

"Don't! It's still plugged in!" Ted called.

"It might-" Ned began, before getting interrupted. Sparks flew from the toaster and they realized too late that the liquid wasn't even water.

The loud bang echoed in their heads. Some shrieked; some screamed. They ducked and covered their heads with their arms to avoid the flying debris. "Explode?" finished Sinead. She was now the victim of yet another explosion. And, once again, it was caused by a Holt.

"Maybe we can wait until tomorrow for food… We should clean this up and then get to bed. It's late," Hamilton suggested.

Silently, they carried out the task. Some could still hear the ringing in their ears.

* * *

**{Present day}**

"Wait a minute, D-dawg. How could you have super powers if everything Nellie and I just said is the norm for us Cahills?" Jonah quizzed. "Did we leave somethin' out?"

"I'm sure that was everything… Hang on! No it wasn't! I completely forgot about-"

"Forgot? Dan-o, I thought you had a photographic memory," Hamilton interrupted, puzzled, because Dan had never forgotten anything before.

"I do. I just didn't think the information was relevant at the time. Remember when I gave you all hugs when we finished setting up early, because you were my 'best friends'? And, Ned, Ted, when I gave you both hugs? Remember when you all complained that I stunk, and that I needed a shower? That was because of this terrible tasting and smelling chemical stuff. But don't worry, it was non-toxic… I think."

Fiske was dreading the answer to his next question. "Dan. Where did you find this 'chemical stuff'?"

"You see, uncle…"

* * *

**Cliff-hanger- because I can. The next chapter will clarify most of the story-line, so it will probably be longer. I can't guarantee anything.**

**And now for some random questions:**

**How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?**

**Salt or pepper?**

**Favourite number?**

**Favourite music artist/ band/ song?**


End file.
